As an outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus to be installed in buildings, commercial facilities, or other constructions, there is proposed an outdoor unit including a heat exchanger arranged on each of a rear surface and side surfaces of the outdoor unit, and a fan arranged on an upper surface of the outdoor unit (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). In the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the heat exchanger mounted on the outdoor unit includes heat transfer tubes each being formed into a circular shape or a flat shape, through which refrigerant is caused to flow, and a plurality of fins each being arranged in parallel to an airflow direction, to which the heat transfer tubes are connected.
In the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the fins and the heat transfer tubes arranged on the heat exchanger are fixed by, for example, brazing or bonding, and the heat transfer tubes of the heat exchanger are supported by fixing plates (first end plate and second end plate) mounted on one end portion side and the other end portion side of the heat exchanger in its horizontal direction. Thus, in the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, in which the heat transfer tubes of the heat exchanger are supported by the fixing plates, even when vibrations are applied to the heat exchanger during its transportation or drop impacts are applied to the heat exchanger, the impacts are dispersed into the heat transfer tubes via the fixing plates, thereby suppressing concentration of the impacts on the fins. As a result, deformation of the fins can be suppressed.
If the fixing plates are not provided, however, for example, the lowermost end side of the fins of the heat exchanger may be deformed. That is, the weight of the heat exchanger is borne by the lowermost end side of the fins, and hence the deformation is liable to occur due to vibrations applied to the heat exchanger during its transportation or drop impacts applied to the heat exchanger. The deformation of the lowermost end side of the fins may cause degradation in drainage or trouble with design of the heat exchanger. When the drainage is degraded, remaining water is frozen during the operation and the ice is grown, which may cause damage to the heat transfer tubes.